Page 20 of Restart & New Revenge
Axel looked over atAce, raising his brow in question.
“I did it a few times as a kid, but that was years ago,”Acechimed in.
Two instructors made their way over and gave introductions, taught us the basics, and then broke us up into teams to play a full game.Therewere usually four to a team, but there were five of us, so our instructor added a separate group of three people to our sheet of ice so we had eight full people to play.
Talia,Ace,Dan, andIwere on one team.FollowedbyAxelwith two twin sisters—JanetandJasmine—and their older brotherJimmy.
The first lesson the instructors gave us was to learn how to come out of the hack—the starting point.Youhad to position yourself low in a lunge position in order to slide out onto the ice while sliding the stone alongside you.Youcould immediately differentiate the beginners from the ones who had done this before.Ifyou were a newbie, you likely found yourself on your ass because you didn’t realize that balancing was a much more complicated process, which was exactly whatJimmyand his sisters had done.
Having done this before,Dandid pretty well.Hewas a few years older than the women, but you’d never know it with how agile he was on the ice—he was damn good, too.
Ace proved that this must be like riding a bicycle, because she was very agile and did quite well.Taliawas the surprise.Forhaving never done this before, she was quite graceful.
“I’ve been practicing squats and lunges for weeks now to get ready for this,”Taliaannounced, likely as a response to seeing the shocked looks on several of our faces.
Axel had to go next and not only slid out gracefully but landed his stone perfectly in the center of the house on the first try.
“Damnit, we should have kept him on our team,”Taliamumbled under her breath, only loud enough forDan,Ace, and me to hear.
After learning the basics and practicing a few times, our instructors felt we were ready to play a practice round.
After playing two ends—curling’s version of innings or rounds—our class had ended.Axelwas by far the best player on any team, but sadly for him, his teammates were terrible, so despite having some amazing shots, one of his teammates usually knocked their own team’s stones out of play by accident.Ourteam won with a score of 3-0.
In the end,Taliaclaimed she was theMVPbecause her stone was the closest to the center. “Archer, you andAxeldon’t count because you two are the equivalent of aGreekgod andViking, and it’s scientifically proven they can’t be bad at anything.”
We all shook hands and congratulated each other on a good game of curling.Afterit was over,Taliaasked me ifIcould take a photo of her,Ace, andDantogether on the ice to commemorate the event.
We thanked our instructors, handed back our rental equipment, and walked out of the building.
“Celebratory drinks and appetizers on me,”Dansaid to our group of five.
There was aMexicanrestaurant next door that we all walked to.Therewas a table for six open at the far end of the restaurant, so we asked to sit there.
Dan asked around for everyone’s order, noticeably skippingAcebefore coming to me.Ideclined, choosing aCokeinstead before turning toAce.Iwas about to ask what she wanted whenDanrepeated back the order. “Okay, two beers, one margarita, oneCoke, and oneDr.Pepper, correct?”
The look on my face must have been obvious, becauseTaliaspoke up. “Shedoesn’t drink.”
“Ever?”Axelasked her, no judgment on his face, but rather just curiosity.
“You never know when you could get called into work, andIdon’t want to be anything but lucid for that,”Aceresponded.
I understood that, but the look on her face implied there was a bit more to it.ThoughIwasn’t going to call her out on it here and now.
“Honestly, some people can’t hold their liquor well, so it’s not a bad idea to have that rule in place,”Danadded before turning toward the bar. “Drinkorder coming right up.”
“So, you’reSwedish, huh?”TaliaaskedAxelafter we all decided on several appetizers to order.
“Yes,Imoved here two years ago,” he responded to her.
“What made you come here?”Taliaquestioned him.
“A job,” he answered shortly, his face becoming stiff.Itwas more than that, butIknew he wouldn’t expand on that with her, or really anyone.
“Have you ever been to theSwedishBakeryover onPeachtreeCrossing?”Aceasked him.
Axel’s face softened a bit as he looked at her. “No, butIwill try it.Ido miss sweet foods from home.”
“Stella is the young woman who owns the bakery, and whileI’venever been toSweden, soIcan’t know how they compare to the real thing,Ido know they are delicious,”Aceadded, smiling enthusiastically while describing some of her favorite items from the shop.
